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Pittsburgh Steelers' Antonio Brown was never holding out, expects to get paid

Updated on August 1, 2016 at 3:27 PMPosted on July 31, 2016 at 6:52 PM

Antonio Brown

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, who has two years left on his contract, is shown here warming before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
(John Froschauer)

LATROBE -- Both the Rooney family and Antonio Brown are first-class, Brown said, but he also made it clear after Pittsburgh Steelers' training camp practice on Sunday that he expects the former to pay the latter.

And hopefully, he said, this year.

Brown confirmed that his agent and the team are in talks to rework his contract, which expires after the 2017 season. The star wide receiver said it's up to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, to figure out of Brown should get a whole new contract a restructuring that gives him more money, sooner, similar to what the team agreed to last August.

Touting his respect for the Steelers and the family that owns them Brown said he is optimistic for some raise this preseason and that his getting one would be in line with the way the NFL works.

"You got to take care of your guys," Brown said. "A guy underperforms, you get rid of him. A guy overperforms, you take care of him. And that's the kind of business we're in."

His current contract, signed in 2012, is set to pay him $6.25 million in base salary this year while a pro-rated $1.7 million of his signing bonus and a $4,420,833 restructure bonus also hit the Steelers' salary cap for 2016.

Pittsburgh has $3,040,081 in room under the cap, according to the NFLPA's database.

He has the league's 44th-highest cap hit, according to Spotrac.com. Last year, Brown tied for the league lead in receptions with 136 and was second in receiving yards with 1,871.

"I got a good reputation toward [the Rooneys] who have been taking care of me," Brown said. "I'm a first-class guy in a relationship and the first way to getting better is showing up. So I'm going to show up and do my part and be ready to go."